Little Dogs – review
Bold and spirited, dynamic and raw, this play revels in the nocturnal rituals enacted on Swansea's streets and beach, writes Elisabeth Mahoney
Culture coach: the week’s essential arts stories
Charlotte Higgins: It was the week that Maurice Sendak died and Bianca Jagger had a fight at the opera. Here are the past seven days' biggest arts stories from around the web
Student publishes a new Shakespeare text
We're not talking First Folio, mind. This is the world of 2b r nt 2b - but with the highest of motives
Culture coach: the week’s essential arts stories
Charlotte Higgins: Every week I'll round up the biggest arts stories from around the web, recommend a long read and look ahead at what's coming up
Derek Walcott: ‘The Oxford poetry job would have been too much work’
As his reworking of Robinson Crusoe goes on stage, Derek Walcott talks about Caribbean culture, his spat with VS Naipaul - and why he didn't want the poetry job anyway
Carol Ann Duffy to bring folk tales to stage for Christmas
Poet laureate will retell classic stories for Royal Exchange Manchester's winter show Rats' Tales
The Great Gatsby – review
It would be perfectly possible to exit the theatre none the wiser about what exactly is the problem with Gatsby, Daisy and this generation of American youth, writes Lyn Gardner
Gatz: The greater Gatsby
A performance of every word of F Scott Fitzgerald's jazz era classic, Gatz lasts a marathon eight hours (with a break for dinner). How do the actors manage it? Emma Brockes meets them in New York
Kidnapped – review
Ed Robson clearly understands the value of storytelling simplicity, so it's a shame he keeps throwing out ideas that muddy the waters, writes Mark Fisher
World Shakespeare festival: around the Globe in 37 plays
The World Shakespeare festival, with performances from across the globe in nearly 50 languages, begins this weekend. Andrew Dickson travelled to India to find out more
Clytemnestra gets a makeover
Is Clytemnestra, whose daughter is sacrificed for Troy, finally about to get her revenge? Poet Gwyneth Lewis explains why she reimagined her fate
Long Day’s Journey Into Night; Where Have I Been All My Life?; Chalet Lines – review
David Suchet and Laurie Metcalf anchor a majestic production of Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece, writes Susannah Clapp
Toni Morrison: ‘I want to feel what I feel. Even if it’s not happiness’
Nobel prize-winning author Toni Morrison talks to Emma Brockes about being a single mother, the death of her son and why love doesn't last
Booker winner attacks bid to ban Israeli national theatre company from Globe
Stars of theatre and literature split over invitation to Israeli company to stage Merchant of Venice in London
Alice in Funderland – review
For all its brittle edges and underground, club-culture aesthetic, this production has a huge heart. writes Helen Meany
Time has Fallen Asleep in the Afternoon Sunshine – review
A unique experience in which a 'human book' reads to you from memory in hush of the library is fascinating and subversive, writes Lyn Gardner
The Owl and the Pussycat – review
This is an engaging but rather old-fashioned hour of brightly coloured entertainment, writes Lyn Gardner
John Arden obituary
Playwright whose work combined poetry, politics and passion
The Hound of the Baskervilles – review
This production never seems to arrive at a decision whether it is presented in earnest or as knowing spoof, writes Alfred Hickling
Mary Shelley – review
The early scenes suggest something more emotionally resonant than is finally delivered, and radical ideas are sidelined in favour of giddy teen romance, writes Lyn Gardner
Matilda the Musical weaves magic over Olivier theatre awards
Stage version of Roald Dahl classic receives 10 nominations, including collective nod for all four actors playing title role
Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging – review
There's a curiously old-fashioned feel to Georgia and her mates – none of whom appear interested in social media or even own a mobile phone, writes Alfred Hickling
Matilda is top of the class at Whatsonstage.com awards
Musical based on Roald Dahl's novel takes four prizes at only major theatre awards voted on by public
Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World by Simon Callow – review
David Edgar on an insider's view of the writer as actor
The Odyssey – review
There is wonder in the everyday poetry of Paper Cinema's ingenious retelling of The Odyssey as it delivers an epic in makeshift miniature, writes Lyn Gardner
John Lahr on Joe Orton: ‘He’d only just found his voice when he was killed’
Alex Needham: The man behind the only definitive account of Joe Orton's life and death talked to me about what inspired him to write it – and the motives behind the playwright's murder
Charles Dickens the dramatist: why it should’ve been an actor’s life for Boz
Sophie Nield: He wanted to be an actor, his novels are full of theatre folk, and he performed readings of his books to rapt audiences. Did you know that Charles Dickens was obsessed with drama?
Gatz to deliver every word of The Great Gatsby on West End stage
F Scott Fitzgerald novel in eight hours – play comes to London after sellout runs and ecstatic reviews around the world
Lovesong; The Table; A Christmas Carol – review
Abi Morgan returns to the stage with a touching love story, and Simon Callow and Dickens are as one, writes Susannah Clapp
This week’s arts diary
Tony Blair looks different, Bath's controversial theatre season and the last chance to protest library closures
Huis Clos – review
In this fine revival we are reminded why Sartre was the spiritual godfather to so many later dramatists, writes Michael Billington
The Woman in Black; The Mousetrap; Blood Brothers – review
As The Mousetrap celebrates its 60th year on the London stage, Susannah Clapp sees three of the capital's longest-running shows – and finds plenty to admire